KalimbaReview

Throughout Kalimba’s many color-coded puzzles, I probably swapped the positions of my two grim-faced totem pieces over a thousand times. Far less frequent, but far more dramatic, were my shifts from marveling at the clever tandem-character puzzle-platforming (the gameplay equivalent of patting my head while rubbing my belly) to frustration at some iffy anti-gravity physics and disappointment at the plain presentation. But I always quickly shifted back to enjoying it, especially in the demanding two-player co-op levels.

While Kalimba's minimal visual style, scarce soundtrack, and mostly-forgettable dialogue are all a bit basic, simplicity is molded into something special when it comes to the puzzle-platforming level design. In single-player, it's all about guiding my totem pieces through obstacle-course levels; if either piece touches a liquid that isn't their color or an enemy (provided you're not larger than one), both pieces die and are sent back to a generously placed checkpoint. While overcoming obstacles usually requires stacking the two and switching their placement (which happens instantly at the touch of a button), certain sequences require using obstacles in the level to put space between your pieces and being carefully aware of their movement. Throughout my five-hour single-player journey, there were enough tweaks to the formula that I felt challenged and interested in what new ideas the next level would add. Whether I was flying through the air via trampolines and cannons, or experimenting with elements that mess with the normally parallel movement and make one of the characters larger or stationary, most of the additions to Kalimba's solid platforming and puzzle mechanics are welcome.

The only parts I wasn't fond of were those that relied heavily on puzzles where gravity is reversed for one of the totems, causing the one on top to walk on the ceiling, and the way they bounce off each other meant dealing with very touchy physics. When I got a top score for finishing a level without dying and collecting all 70 items stashed within, I felt a sense of pride few games have given to me lately. Typically, when I made a mistake near the end that ruined such a run I'd curse, but there was an undercurrent of happiness – a feeling that I was just a retry away from attaining perfection. However, when a slightly mistimed anti-gravity move shot a totem into an obstacle, the lack of control in these situations led to more anger and less motivation to return to a level.

Those aren’t too frequent, though, and it's to Kalimba's credit that I’ve felt an urge to return to its world since completing the campaign, thanks to a multitude of additional modes. I've made a few valiant-yet-ill-fated attempts to conquer “Old School” mode, where high scoring runs are the only way to add to a very limited supply of lives. Kalimba's co-op campaign, where each player controls a pair of totems of one color through specifically-designed levels, is an additional treat that taxed my brain in a whole new way: I had to verbalize solutions to a partner and sometimes synchronize movement to a degree that illustrates why Kalimba's co-op is strictly local.

I’m eagerly awaiting completion of co-op to unlock Shorthanded mode, where I'll have to control both of the co-op totem pairs on a single controller (it reminds me of the underappreciated PS2 puzzler Cookies and Cream). Unfortunately, some of that sense of progress was stymied by a bug that erased more than half of my single-player progress and some of my co-op work when I was switching between apps. The publisher has stated that this will be fixed in time for launch, but I haven’t been able to verify that fix yet.

Kalimba

Kalimba is a playful platforming game where players control two totem pole pieces with one controller.

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The Verdict

Much as it might take close examination to appreciate the amazing craftsmanship of a totem pole, the plain presentation of Kalimba shouldn't turn you away from the originality and fun harnessed locked within this puzzle-platformer. Save for a few puzzles that lose luster due to unintuitive and touchy physics, I mostly enjoyed testing both my platforming timing and my problem-solving skills with Kalimba's brain-busters.